Chapter 796: Chapter 424: Fierce Retort Against Media Pestering!
After they clarified the direction of the next stage of work, everyone quickly threw themselves into action.
Zhang Yean led a few young scene examiners and carried out a meticulous examination of the footprints they had just found.
They did not overlook even the tiniest trace, as if each one might be the most crucial piece of the case’s jigsaw puzzle.
However, the second sweep of the wooded area still yielded no breakthrough—perhaps because the grass there was low and sparse, so even if someone passed through, it would be hard to leave any obvious footprints.
The forensic team searched over and over again and still came up empty, so they had no choice but to temporarily shift their focus back to the clues along the riverbank.
At the same time, Wan and Qin Feng, this pair of "old partners," teamed up once again and headed straight to the traffic management bureau to coordinate the retrieval of surveillance footage.
As they walked, they discussed possible blind spots and coverage areas, talking so fast it was like they were performing some highly efficient work ritual.
Jiang An, having documents to sign, drove back to the municipal bureau.
As the car was just approaching the gate of the public security bureau, he saw a group of reporters walking out of the multimedia conference room one after another, each of them listless and sighing, a far cry from their usual look of sprinting away in excitement after landing a hot story.
The young officer Chen, who was driving, took a glance and couldn’t help muttering, "Huh? Mr. Jiang, what’s up with those reporters today?"
"Before, as soon as they got a bit of material, they practically wanted to fly into the sky; how come today they all look like someone collectively docked their drumsticks?"
Jiang, who had been bowing his head and mulling over the case, looked up at this, swept a glance out the window, and let out a light snort: "My guess is they didn’t get the ’melon’ they were itching to chew on."
"These people—who among them isn’t being fed by traffic?"
Two minutes later, just as they got out of the car, they happened to run into Mr Li striding over, accompanied by the head of the publicity section.
Mr Li spotted Jiang at a glance and immediately came up, his tone urgent but tinged with expectation: "Well, Jiang?"
"Any progress down by the river?"
Jiang straightened his expression and reported at once: "Mr Li, we were just about to come find you."
"After repeatedly examining the riverbank, we found a clear set of climbing marks. The key point is—he was wearing shoes, and the spacing between the footprints is large and very rushed. It’s nothing like what an ordinary person out fishing or swimming would leave behind."
"We strongly suspect this is the route the suspect took to escape that night."
Mr Li’s eyes immediately lit up, and he couldn’t help letting the corners of his mouth lift: "Good! That’s a major breakthrough!"
"What about follow-up tracking along the route?"
Jiang nodded in response: "We’ve already arranged to pull all surveillance around the area that might have captured the direction of flight, including checking the footage from the periods before and after."
"Even if he moved at night, there are very few people and vehicles at that time. As long as the cameras cover it, there’s a good chance of capturing something abnormal."
Mr Li praised this repeatedly, his mood clearly lifting: "Excellent! At last this case is seeing a sliver of light!"
Once the report wrapped up, Jiang shifted the topic and asked with a hint of teasing: "By the way, Mr Li, I just saw those media friends all drooping their heads. Did today’s press conference have such sharp questions that they made life hard for us?"
Mr Li burst out laughing at that.
He glanced around at the reporters gradually dispersing, a faint, hard-to-read smile at the corner of his mouth, like he had seen straight through them.
He turned his head and said quietly to the colleague beside him, "You see that? Every one of them has eyes shining, desperate to dig some explosive material out of me so they can go back and hit the trending lists."
"What a pity—I’m the kind of guy who least likes eating from the ’breaking news’ bowl."
He paused slightly, his voice carrying a trace of mockery. "What do we in criminal investigation value?"
"Confidentiality! Procedure! Discipline! If I were to spill all the details of the investigation and the stage-by-stage results, tomorrow I’d have to switch careers and be a commentator!"
As if recalling something amusing, he chuckled and went on: "You have no idea—back when I was the head of the criminal investigation team, these reporters never stopped giving me a hard time."
"Every time I went out to a scene, didn’t they surround us till not a drop of water could get through?"
"Their questions were trickier one after another, and they practically wanted to shove their cameras right up to the evidence bags."
"Now—" he drew out the word, a sly glint flashing in his eyes, "my position’s different. They want to talk to me?"
"Fine, I’ll give the same line even if their editor-in-chief shows up."
"We handle cases in accordance with the law; we don’t do plot previews."
The colleague beside him burst out laughing and quickly chimed in: "Mr Li, you really just blocked an ’arrow from the dark’ for us."
"Now the parents’ side won’t press us so hard for the time being, and the pressure on us investigators can ease up a bit."
"Thanks for the hard work. Come on, let’s go back to the office. I just got some good tea; I was about to ask you to try it."
The two of them were chatting and laughing as they stepped into the office, but before they could even sit down, a young officer pushed the door open in a rush and said anxiously, "Mr Li! A few more reporters have shown up at the entrance. They say they must see you today and want to get a deeper understanding of how the case is progressing."
Mr Li raised an eyebrow, his face plainly showing a "they’re here again?" impatience: "I’ve already said everything that needed saying in the meeting. As for procedural matters, just handle them according to regulations."
"This time it’s a bit different..."
The young officer lowered his voice. "It seems they’ve caught some rumors. They’re asking to speak directly with you by name, saying they have important questions that need to be verified."
Mr Li’s gaze met that of the colleague beside him for an instant, and a meaningful smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "All right then, arrange them in the small conference room next door. Give them ten minutes."
In less than five minutes, four reporters were already in place, fully armed with cameras, voice recorders, and other equipment.
